UPDATE 1-CIBC returns to profit in first quarter

OTTAWA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) said on Thursday that it returned to a first-quarter profit.

Canada’s fifth-largest bank reported net income of C$147 million ($118.5 million), or 29 Canadian cents a share, in the three months ended Jan 31. That compares with a loss of $1.45 billion, or C$4.39 a share, a year earlier.

The most recent results were hurt by losses that total C$1.36 a share. They include a C$708 million loss on structured credit run-off activities, C$92 million in mark-to-market losses on hedges related to leveraged leases, and C$87 million in losses from merchant banking and C$48 million in foreign exchange losses.

There was a C$94 million gain on changes in credit spreads on credit derivatives.

Analysts had expected on average a profit of C$1.49 a share, before exceptions, according to Thomson Reuters.

Quarterly revenue was 8 percent lower at C$2.02 billion.

$1=$1.24 Canadian
Reporting by Susan Taylor, editing by Dave Zimmerman